On the evening of Election Day, Bush political chief Karl Rove appears on Fox News’s Hannity and Colmes to discuss his predictions for the elections and his observations on the day’s voting. After predicting comfortable margins of victory for President Bush, co-host Sean Hannity turns to allegations of voter fraud and efforts by Republicans to monitor votes in Ohio and other states. In Ohio, Rove says, Republicans have poll watchers on hand “in order to challenge people who are fictitious voters or felons, ineligible to vote, or people who have registered multiple times.… And we know particularly in Ohio, but in a lot of the other key battleground states, there has been a lot of voter registration fraud. We don’t want that to turn into voter fraud on Election Day.” He cites the NAACP as an organization engaging in voter fraud, and says one NAACP vote registrar registered 100 illegitimate names and was paid for his work in crack cocaine. Rove gives no evidence for this sensational claim. Hannity cites unverified stories of felons illegally voting in Florida, and Rove adds an unverified story of workers for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) bringing a sheaf of absentee ballots out of a prison in Pennsylvania and “attempting to vote them.” Absentee ballots have to be mailed personally in Pennsylvania and, Rove says, the actions by the ACORN workers to put the prisoners’ ballots into the mail were illegal. [Fox News, 11/2/2004] It is unknown where Rove obtained his information. No news reports of these incidents can be found.

A ‘tea party’ protester carries a sign during a Chicago rally. [Source: Huffington Post]Fox News devotes much of its day’s coverage to the conservative, anti-tax “tea parties” taking place around the nation. The network has promoted the tea parties in the previous weeks (see April 6-13, 2009, April 15, 2009, and April 15, 2009). Fox hosts Glenn Beck, Neil Cavuto, Sean Hannity, and Greta Van Susteren all provide extensive live coverage from the sites of separate events, which the network promotes as “FNC [Fox News Channel] Tax Day Tea Parties” (see October 13, 2009). Many of the network’s shows, such as America’s Newsroom, Beck’s show, and others provide on-air and online information about the times and locations of events, and broadcast interviews with event organizers. Beck tells his viewers they can “[c]elebrate with Fox News” at any of four “FNC Tax Day Tea Parties.” Beck, who is at San Antonio’s Alamo for an event (see April 15, 2009) tells his audience: “If you can’t make the one in San Antonio, please go to the one with Neil or with Sean in Atlanta, that’s supposed to be great, Greta is in Washington, DC. Just get out and let your face be seen.” Hannity encourages viewers to send in their “Tax Day Tea Party” videos for on-air broadcast. Cavuto’s guest host in the studio, Stuart Varney, says plainly, “It’s now my great duty to promote the tea parties.” Fox News’s Web site, “Fox Nation,” actively promotes the events, with links to blogs, maps, videos, and event calendars. The network even hosts its own “virtual tea party” on its Web site. Fox host Gretchen Carlson suggests that viewers hang teabags from their cars’ rearview mirrors, “like fuzzy dice.” Fox Business anchor Cody Willard tells viewers to “figh[t] the fascism” of the current administration by attending a “tea party.” He asks his viewers, “Guys, when are we going to wake up and start fighting the fascism that seems to be permeating this country?” He adds that in his opinion, conservatives and liberals are “both fascists who are taking my money and building up corporate America with my welfare.” And Fox Business anchor David Asman advises his viewers to buy “tea party” merchandise. The push is successful: after the April 15 protests, many mainstream news outlets report that Fox News reports helped drive crowds to protests. CNN and Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz will say, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a news network throw its weight behind a protest like we are seeing in the past few weeks with Fox and these tea parties.” [Media Matters, 9/11/2009]

A screenshot of the logo for Mike Huckabee’s Fox News show. [Source: Fox News]According to an analysis by the progressive media watchdog organization Media Matters, Fox News has become the place for eight former Bush administration officials and other Republican lawmakers, strategists, and future presidential candidates to espouse their views (see October 13, 2009). Media Matters says “[a] revolving door exists between the Republican Party and Fox News Channel… further demonstrating that Fox is effectively a conservative political organization and not a legitimate news outlet.” Media Matters analyzed Fox News broadcasts aired between September 1 and mid-October. Karl Rove - The former deputy chief of staff of the Bush White House, Karl Rove, the Bush administration’s chief political adviser, is now labeled as a political adviser and commentator for Fox. He appears, on average, twice a week, usually on prime-time programs hosted by Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly. Dana Perino - Formerly the White House press secretary, Dana Perino is now a frequent contributor and analyst for Fox, and writes a column for Fox Forum. Perino appears most often on Hannity’s show, though she has made several appearances on Fox Business Channel. John Bolton - The former ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton is now a regular Fox contributor and analyst. Mike Huckabee - Mike Huckabee, the ex-governor of Arkansas and dark-horse presidential candidate in 2008 has his own show, Huckabee, on Fox. Frequently, Huckabee directs viewers to “go to balancecutsave.com,” which redirects visitors to a Web page soliciting donations for his political action committee, which financially supports Republican candidates and also pays his daughter’s salary. Newt Gingrich - Newt Gingrich is the former speaker of the House and a possible presidential candidate in 2012. He has been a regular on Fox since singing a contract with the network in 1999 after resigning from the House in disgrace. John Kasich - Formerly a Republican House member from Ohio and now a candidate for governor of Ohio, John Kasich used to host a show on Fox, Heartland with John Kasich. He is a regular contributor and commentator on several Fox prime-time broadcasts. Dick Morris - A Republican who once crossed party lines to advise then-President Clinton, Dick Morris is a frequent guest on Fox, appearing at least 20 times since September 1, usually on shows hosted by Hannity, O’Reilly, or Greta Van Susteren. During the 2008 election cycle, Morris repeatedly urged viewers to donate to an anti-Obama political action committee, without divulging that the PAC had paid a firm connected to him. Morris also uses his Fox appearances to raise funds for a conservative group of which he is chief strategist. Frank Luntz - Frank Luntz, a GOP strategist and pollster, regularly appears on Fox shows hosted by Hannity, O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck, who asked Luntz to instruct his audience on the signs “the tea party people should be carrying.” [Media Matters, 10/26/2009]

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